Snippet #2770415

Mara felt the horse underneath her, the mare's strong muscles bunching and rippling as she walked. But she wasn't really there, her mind was stuck in that moment of staring down at the horrific remains of Thomas and Ragnar. Empty, bloodied, husks of flesh. Meat. Her stomach roiled at the thought, but she couldn't stop thinking about it anyway.

As if from a distance, she could hear the others around her talking softly. The horse stopped, and Mara looked up in time to be handed Phaedra's sachel. Mara vaguely heard the request to hold it. It felt foreign in her bloodied hands. Mara stared at it blankly until it wss taken from her again. It felt like time was moving in a strange way. Both quickly and agonizingly slow at once. She felt the reins leave her hands, and as if they had been in her mouth, she followed where Phaedra led her mare. She couldn't remember dismounting.

The others around her also dismounted. Callion spoke at some point. Mara felt disconnected from her own body as Phae led them into a building. Momentarily, Mara became aware of many eyes on her. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled to attention. She felt her shoulders tighten as she attempted to make herself smaller in her unease. She felt rubbed raw, emotionally and physically.

They entered a room. Phae closed the door behind them and Mara felt a distinct clawing at her chest as the crampness of the space became solidified. She felt trapped for some reason. She needed air.

Phae apologized and slumped to the floor. Mara eyed her, worried. But a glance showed that she was mostly just tired..as were they all. Mara nodded at the red head, acknowledging her efforts and trying not to look as crazed as she felt.

As if on cue to her thoughts, Callion collapsed to the floor midsentance. He started to say he wanted to be in the tub before falling into one of his sudden sleeps.

Mara knelt by him, double checking his breath. Being sure he was not just...meat...but her first thought had been right. Just his sudden sleeps. Without a word she hefted the thin man over her shoulder and dragged him into the bathroom. As gently as possible, she hefted the wizard into the tub. His head lolled, looking uncomfortable. Carefully, she took off her cloak and folded it as best she could, like a pillow. She propped it behind his limp neck. It was something at least.

In the mirror above the sink, an unfamiliar face leered back at her. She looked older, covered in gore..her own eyes frightened her. She looked away quickly, grabbing some fresh clothes from the provided pile. She closed the bathroom door, changing while the wizard snored to avoid being bare skinned in front of the others.

Mara tried to fold her dirty clothes, but the blood had hardened in strange ways. She left them in.a pile under the tub instead. Looking at them made her nauseous. She cupped her hands under the faucet and attempted to wash her face. The water in the basin was rust colored with her filth. She could smell blood.

Mara exited the bathroom in the simple white shift she'd been given. She missed her apron, but it was too filty to wear to sleep. The others had chosen their places it seemed. Mara curled at the foot of the bed, wishing herself smaller. She lay there with her eyes shut, wanting sleep. She wasn't certain how long she lay that way..but with her eyes closed she could only see their corpses again...

Mara finally sat up, overwhelmed. The room was quiet. It smelled of blood. They all stank like death. It was suffocating. Mara stood, silent as she could, and slipped out the door. Her bare feet padded on the steps softly. The tavern was mainly empty, save for sleeping drunks. They all seemed to have her father's face. Mara winced and slipped out the door into the night.

The air felt cool on her fevery skin. Overhead, the sky was bright with stars. The dirt felt familiar and comforting between her toes. She padded into the barn, and the smell of fresh hay and warm horse welcomed her. She felt her shoulders loosen slightly. Some horses, scenting her, nickered nervously as she passed their stalls. Mara found her mare with surprising ease. A horse the color of freshly tilled soil. The mare stretched her long neck over the door and grunted at Mara. Mara sighed and gently cooed at her before hunkering down nearby.

Somehow, it felt safer here. A hay pile was a welcome sanctuary. Mara climbed in, clutching the knife Phae had given her like a talisman, just in case. The scent of the barn finally lulled her to sleep.

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Mara woke, startled by the sound of crashing wood on wood, and the sound of equally unnerved horses.

Mara leapt to her feet, knife readied, hay sticking everywhich way out of her dark and tossled hair. A sound somewhere between a growl and a scream rattled from between her grit teeth. Her eyes flashed sharply in her fright.

That was when she saw Callion standing in the barn, his staff hovering nearby with his clothing draped over it. He greeted her cheerily as if it were a perfectly normal morning. Sheepishly, Mara lowered the knife.

"G..good morning..." she managed hoarsely.

Mara felt her mare's hot breath on the top of her head. The mare was unimpressed by Mara's tough front and was playfully licking at the hay in the farm girl's hair. Mara grumbled and pushed the horse's snout away gently.

Mara sighed and sheathed the knife, having the self awareness to look embarrassed for being discovered sleeping in the barn. He would probably think she was some kind of little beast...but she had no words to explain herself. All she had was a soft...

"S..sorry..." Mara mumbled, looking at her bare toes. She cleared her throat a little, unsure how to proceed.

Awkwardly, she began picking hay from her hair and then lacking anything else to say she picked up a brush and began carefully brushing her dark mare.